Artist Spotlight: Denis Peaudeau

It’s Monday, that means it’s time for another Artist Spotlight. If you are new to the blog, this is a feature, where we spotlight photographers and artist that are inspiring others with there instant film work. We try to provide our readers with a new spotlight each week, so if you would like to be featured or know of someone you would like to see on the blog, drop us a line. We love putting people in the spotlight!

Today on the blog we are featuring Denis Peaudeau. Denis is from Rennes, France, and while photography is not his full time job, it is his passion. We came across Denis in the Snap It See It Flickr pool. We have featured his work in several Featured Fridays and finally got a chance to find out more about the person behind the camera. Please be sure to check out his social media links.

In 2007, I stumbled upon a french forum dedicated to analog photography, where people shared tricks and tips, and also their photographs. I already had a Nikon FM2 and a Lubitel, but I discovered with in this forum the Holga and the Polaroid SX-70. Immediately I fell in love with the pics made with these two cameras. Fortunately for me, someone was selling an SX70 and lived two streets away from me! I bought his camera, and later I found my parent’s Polaroid 210 in their garage.What is your favorite camera used for instant photography?

Mamiya Universal for pack 100, and Polaroid SLR 680 for pack 600.What instant camera have you not shot with, but would love to try?

I have a 4×5″ camera, and i really love the 4×5 format, but since I have it, i dream to test a 8×10 camera! But it’s too expensive.What’s your favorite Impossible film or pack film type?

Definitely, the Polaroid 100 Chocolate! (for nude pictures) It’s awesome, and I’m always surprised and charmed by the result (even if it sometimes “fails”)How have you incorporated instant film into your regular workflow?

For years, I mainly did live photography, and later urbex. But for the last two years, I’ve started to do portrait photography. I immediately used Polaroid film because of the unexpected result, and because it was instant photography, not a digital! I like the object as the picture itself. And it’s quite funny to hear the models say : “Oh, my parents had one years ago!”How would you describe your voice or vision with instant photography? (does it differ from your other work?)

For live band photography, I used a digital camera (but I’ve stopped since I started to do portraits). For urbex, I used mainly analog photography. For portraits, I used mainly instant film. For me, it’s just different tools, I choose them because I’m looking for a specific result. And, I must admit, I’m a little bit lazy, so with instant film, I don’t need to spend hours on Photoshop to get a “weird” result ! But, with instant film, the object is also very important to me. Not only the fact I can see the picture, but the fact I have it in my hands. The physical link means a lot to me!

Any personal projects we should know about?

I’m working on two series yet. One with nudes in counter light, and a series with black umbrella in a “desert-like” environment.What other photographers do you look up too?

I’m quite curious so I love to look at other photographer’s work on the Internet. There are amazing works on Polanoid.net, and of course Flickr. And I regularly buy books. Not only instant photography!What advice would you give to someone just getting into instant photography?

Now, it’s a little bit easier to get into instant photography with Impossible Project production. Their film are really good, especially in black&white. They made a great job! As it’s harder and harder to find pack 100 film, I would advise to buy a SX70 and some Impossible film, to get the thrill of instant photography!Where does your inspiration come from? Do you seek it out or wait till it finds you?

When I do portraits in abandoned buildings, castles or plants, I tried to combined beauty of geometry an beauty of a person. Usually, I know the places I go with models, so I have some ideas before, but often, the inspiration come from the instant, a light or a detail i didn’t see before. And sometime, the models have great ideas too! I also like to introduce a “weird” detail in my picture, something unusual, that make one asks “err what is it?”. But it’s quite hard to achieve this.